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Specimens

The Fifty-Four

Every Story World, shown as work. The tradition it comes from, and the structural form in the order that tradition holds it. Read them freely.

Cyclical

13 The line →
Dogon Creation Cycle Dogon people — Bandiagara Escarpment, Mali, West Africa 7 movements Bantu — Ubuntu Story Circle Bantu-speaking peoples — Zulu (umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu), Xhosa, Ndebele,… 8 movements BaKongo — Congo Cosmogram BaKongo peoples — Kongo, Vili, Yombe, Woyo, Solongo —… 4 movements Slavic — The Turning Year Slavic peoples — the East Slavs (Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians),… 7 movements Babylonian — Enuma Elish Babylonian civilization — Akkadian-speaking, central Mesopotamia 7 movements Kojiki / Shinto — Amaterasu Yamato Japanese peoples — the Kojiki ("Record of Ancient… 7 movements Philippine — Bathala / Diwata Philippine peoples — Tagalog, Visayan (Bisaya), Ilocano, Bikolano, Kapampangan,… 6 movements Zapotec — Cloud People Zapotec peoples — Oaxaca Valley; Monte Albán civilization 7 movements Aztec Codex (Amoxtli) The Mexica (Aztec) and wider Nahua peoples of central… 7 movements K'iche' Maya Creation Cycle The K'iche' Maya of highland Guatemala, whose sacred book… 8 movements Animal-Guide Journey Native American / Indigenous peoples of North America —… 7 movements Lakota Sacred Hoop The Lakota (part of the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ / Great… 7 movements Medicine Wheel Circular Narrative Native American / Indigenous nations of North America (Plains… 7 movements

Spiral

7 The line →
Mandé — Griot Performance Mandinka, Wolof, Fula, Bambara, Dyula, Soninke — Mali, Guinea,… 8 movements San / Khoisan — Click Stories San (Bushmen) — !Kung, !Xóõ, Taa, /Xam, ǀXam, Naro… 6 movements Forest Peoples — Mbuti / Baka Mbuti (Ituri Forest, Democratic Republic of Congo), Baka (Cameroon,… 6 movements Nilotic — Dinka / Nuer / Maasai Dinka and Nuer of South Sudan, Maasai of Kenya… 6 movements Celtic — The Spiral Celtic peoples — the Irish (Gaelic) and Welsh (Brythonic)… 7 movements Sufi / Rumi — Masnavi Sufi Islamic mystical tradition — centered on Jalal ad-Din… 6 movements Korean Pansori — Joseon Performance Korean peoples — the pansori tradition flowered under the… 6 movements

Balance

5 The line →
Kemet — Ma'at Balance Ancient Egyptian civilization — Nile Valley from the First… 7 movements Indian Rasa (Natyashastra) The Indian (Sanskrit) dramatic and aesthetic tradition — the… 9 movements Tamil Sangam — Akam / Puram Tamil peoples — Tamilakam (the ancient Tamil country of… 5 movements Javanese — Wayang Kulit Javanese peoples — the island of Java, Indonesia, in… 7 movements Diné — Hózhó / Blessingway Diné (Navajo) people — Diné Bikéyah, the Navajo homeland… 6 movements

Web

5 The line →
Akan — Anansi Web Akan peoples — Ashanti, Fante, Akyem, Akuapem, Kwahu —… 9 movements Yoruba / Ifá — Orisha Realms Yoruba peoples — Oyo, Egba, Ijebu, Ile-Ife, Ekiti, Ijesa,… 8 movements Haudenosaunee — Sky Woman / Great Law Haudenosaunee (the "People of the Longhouse," also known as… 7 movements Melanesia — Ancestor Presence Papua New Guinea peoples and Melanesian island peoples —… 6 movements Māori — Whakapapa Māori — the Indigenous Polynesian people of Aotearoa (New… 7 movements

Multi-Trial

7 The line →
Mandé — Sundiata Epic Mandinka, Bambara, Dyula peoples — Mali Empire and successor… 8 movements Nguni — Zulu / Xhosa Zulu (amaZulu), Xhosa (amaXhosa), Swazi (emaSwati), and Ndebele (amaNdebele)… 8 movements Finnish Kalevala — Väinämöinen Finnish and Karelian peoples — Finno-Ugric tradition 7 movements Sumerian — Gilgamesh / Inanna Sumerian civilization — the city-states of Uruk, Ur, Lagash,… 7 movements Wuxia (武侠) Chinese literary tradition — the wuxia genre of martial… 8 movements Hindu Epic — Mahabharata Sanskrit literary and religious tradition — attributed to the… 8 movements Maya — Popol Vuh K'iche' Maya peoples of the Guatemalan highlands, heirs to… 8 movements

Linear

6 The line →
Three-Act Structure The European/American dramatic and narrative tradition — rooted in… 9 movements The Hero's Journey The European/American comparative-mythology and craft tradition — the "monomyth"… 10 movements Seven-Point Structure The European/American storytelling-craft tradition — a modern structural framework… 9 movements Four-Act Structure The European/American dramatic and narrative tradition — a refinement… 8 movements Norse Saga Structure Norse peoples — the medieval Icelanders and the wider… 8 movements Vision Quest (Structural) The Lakota (Očhéthi Šakówiŋ) and other Plains Indigenous nations… 8 movements

Geographic

3 The line →
Guaraní — The Land Without Evil Guaraní peoples — Mbyá, Ava (Ñandeva), Kaiowá, and Paĩ… 6 movements Polynesian Wayfinding The Polynesian peoples — Hawaiian, Māori, Tahitian, Samoan, Tongan,… 7 movements Songline (Structural) Aboriginal Australian peoples — the many distinct First Nations… 7 movements

Negotiation

4 The line →
Congo Forest Peoples (Molimo) Mbuti, Baka, Aka, Efé and related forest peoples of… 8 movements Thousand and One Nights The Arabic, Persian, Indian, and wider Middle Eastern and… 7 movements Amazonian Vision Journey The many distinct Indigenous peoples of the Amazon rainforest… 6 movements Andean / Inca Quipu The Quechua-speaking Inca and the wider Andean peoples, who… 8 movements

Non-Conflict

4 The line →
Japanese Ma (間) Japanese aesthetic and artistic tradition — developed across Noh… 6 movements Kishōtenketsu (起承転結) East Asian literary tradition — originating in classical Chinese… 6 movements Tang Qǐchéngzhuǎnhé Chinese literary tradition — the classical poetics of the… 8 movements Taoist Parables — Zhuangzi Chinese Taoist tradition — Zhuangzi (Zhuang Zhou, c. 369–286… 4 movements